Machines such as track-type tractors, dozers, motor graders and wheel loaders are used to perform a variety of tasks, including, for example, moving material and/or altering work surfaces at a worksite. In general, these machines may function in accordance with a work plan for a given worksite to perform operations, including digging, loosening, carrying, and any other manipulation of material within a worksite. Furthermore, the work plan may often involve predetermined repetitive tasks that may be entirely or at least partially automated to minimize operator involvement and promote efficiency. A given work environment may involve autonomous and/or semi-autonomous machines that perform tasks in response to preprogrammed commands or delivered commands.
In automated work environments, it is especially desirable to ensure that the machines perform work operations in an efficient and productive manner in accordance with the given work plan. Seemingly minor deviations from the work plan, if undetected or left unaddressed, may be compounded into more significant and obvious errors in the eventual work product. Therefore, early detection of deviations in the work progress or suboptimal machine settings can play an important role in ensuring efficient and productive passes, such as by requesting earlier operator intervention and correction to compensate for the errors. However, in the context of automated work environments, remotely monitoring multiple groups of different machines with a limited number of operators can be challenging.
US Patent Publication No. 2011/0295423 discloses an autonomous machine management system. The autonomous machine management system includes a number of autonomous machines configured to perform area coverage tasks in a worksite and a number of worksite areas within the worksite. A conditional behavior module is provided to be executed by a processor unit and configured to determine whether a number of conditions are met for the number of worksite areas. A navigation system is configured to operate the autonomous machines to perform the area coverage tasks and move between the number of worksite areas when the number of conditions is met.
The above reference provides system and method for controlling operations of a number of autonomous machines in a worksite. However, the reference may not provide sufficient means for monitoring suboptimal conditions of the operations being performed by the autonomous machines.